Olé and olé! With a magnificent collective performance and goals from Mikel Oyarzábal, from a penalty in the first half, and Pedro Porro after the break, the Spanish team beat them 2-0 and spoiled the national celebration for France to qualify for the final of the World Cup 2026where the rival of the semifinal awaits who will face England and Argentina tomorrow.
The Spanish squad led by Luis de la Fuente can now say that it has another golden generation, the one that reached the second final of a World Cup crowned as European champion, which did not even need the best Lamine Yamal, because the rest of its teammates played at a high level.
Watched from the stands by Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos, It may not be the brightest, but it was the most effective in leaving behind the group that had scared the most.
Spain was a team on the rise during the tournament and arrived at the decisive moment with a clear idea; how to nullify the tremendous offensive repertoire of the French team.
Because, turned into a classic by this generation of players, who have already faced each other in the penultimate round of the three major competitions, France-Spain have become a game of errors, which rewards those who make the least. And the first was committed by Didier Deschamps’ team at 20 minutes, in the first transcendent emergence of Lamine Yamal.
Lamine said it was his time and he fulfilled it. Until then, he had barely come into play, but he perfectly read a ball into the area, which caught Lucas Digne in a bad position, he anticipated it with his body and the defender hit him in the leg.
Penalty that Mikel Oyarzabal did not miss, as almost always, to score his fifth goal in the tournament and put the bow towards the final at the Metlife Stadium in New York / New Jersey.
With a better occupation of the field, solidarity aid and determination in the disputes, “La Roja” ended up deactivating an unrecognizable French team in the first half, which lost William Saliba due to injury, only shot high, through Bradley Barcola, and a timely cut by Dayot Upamecano freed it from the second goal after a great play by Lamine and Dani Olmo, which Fabián Ruiz could not finish clearly.
Michael Olise did not appear, just Ousmane Dembelé and Mbappé was almost unable to run, to whom Unai Simón, very attentive outside the area, took a ball from behind the Spanish defense.
After halftime, France was not reactivated either, neither by the entry of Manu Koné, with the intention of having more of the ball, nor by the practically unprecedented change of Barcola for Desiré Doué.
On the contrary, a new defensive inattention allowed Pedro Porro to stand alone against the French goalkeeper Mike Maignan, after another magnificent wall by Dani Olmo and beat Maignan, to put a gap, before the hour mark, already almost insurmountable, especially due to sensations.
France had no plan or drive to force a comeback and, although Mbappé came into play more, as a result of the Spanish retreat, he never gave the sensation of adjusting the result, not even when a bad start by Unai Simon left Doué with the ball and the goal unguarded. The PSG striker threw it into the goalkeeper’s body as he retreated.
He didn’t let the Spanish team go much further. De la Fuente rewarded his team, brought on Ferran, Mikel Merino, Pedri, Nico, Llorente… and everyone was able to have minutes to celebrate on the field a historic classification among Olés in the stands, to spoil the party for France and finish frustrating a Mbappé who even left an ugly elbow to Unai.
Spain is a finalist and awaits a rival between England and Argentina, reinforced by its collective game, the same one that annulled the French individualities and that, on Sunday, July 19 (3 pm ET), at the Metlife Stadium hopes to sew a second star on its chest.
This is how they aligned
– France (0): Mike Maignan; Jules Koundé, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba (Maxense Lacroix, m.30), Lucas Digne (Théo Hernández, m.72); Aurélien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot (Manu Koné, d.46); Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise (Rayan Chreki, m.72), Bradley Barcola (Désiré Doué, m.56); Killian Mbappé.
– Selector: Didier Deschamps.
– Spain (2): Unai Simón; Pedro Porro (Marcos Llorente, m.84), Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián (Pedri, m.78), Dani Olmo (Mikel Merino, m.78); Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal (Ferran Torres, m.74), Álex Baena (Nico Williams, m.84).
– Selector: Luis de la Fuente.
– Goals: 0-1: m.22: Oyarzabal. 0-2: m..58: Pedro Porro
– Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador). He admonished the French Rabiot and Mbappé and the Spanish Cucurella.
– Incidents: Semifinal of the 2026 World Cup played at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington (Texas) before 70,176 spectators.
(With a report from Óscar González, from EFE)
